Seven Sacrifices to Joy

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Thanks for taking the time to make the time to have Coffee Hour with me! Today we are returning to the Seven Sacrifices to Joy, and we are still on the third sacrifice of communication. Oh, what a gift … and a curse communication can be! Grab your coffee and your SOF (Strand of Faith) and let’s go tie some knots in our faith.
There are only 14 references to communicate/communication in the Bible, and its major translation means fellowship, but in many of those references unity is mentioned and so is conflict. I could feel you bristle as you read that word “conflict,” but we’ll talk about that in a minute. :) Unity is as a result of good and effective communication while conflict is as a result of not-so-good communication. Could this be why we are instructed in James 1:19 to be slow to speak? And look at all the instructions in Proverbs about holding our tongues, watching our words, etcetera. Did you get any sort of visual for either of those? Because I did and it was pretty funny!
For James 1:19 I get this visual of an extremely fast-paced runner of life being held back ever so firmly to do everything in slooooooooooow motion! Oh, what a great reminder, especially when it comes to handling conflict, or confronting someone when their words are speaking differently than their actions. See, for the sake of the greater good, in an effort to not kick the bird out of the nest, so to speak, we must be contemplative in our approach, not as though we are sneaking up on them and trying to scare them so they fall out of the nest, or the church, but gentle and thoughtful and in love expose what has been revealed that they may be restored to abiding in the Bride of Christ.
How about the visual of holding your tongue? Go ahead, grab your tongue and look at yourself! Sorry, but that’s worth a giggle or two and definitely brought back a memory or two, which I’ll share in a moment.
Proverbs 12:18 says that reckless words pierce like a sword! Ouch! I know that that thing in me called a tongue has caused more damage than any other weapon known to man! Oh, how many times have I wished that I would have held my tongue before letting some incredibly ugly words come out of my mouth! Have you ever regretted something you said almost as soon as you said it? Isn’t the feeling horrible, like a lead anchor in your heart pushing you down!
I can remember the aftermath of an argument with my second husband – third time’s a charm! We were sitting on the floor, calmly talking through an argument and discovering exactly where it had derailed into an all-out ugly fire! I was really listening to him … that didn’t happen often; trust me, and all of a sudden he said, “Give me your tongue.”
I looked at him, dumbfounded, shook my head to see if anything rattled differently and would echo a different statement and all I could say was, “What?”
He repeated himself.
I stuck my tongue out and he gently grabbed it between his thumb and index finger and the words he said etched in my heart and have remained there: “Of all the hurtful things you do, this hurts the worst.”
All I could do was burst into tears. He wasn’t trying to shame me; he was simply letting me know that every time I opened my mouth to hurl swords of insult, words that cut him down, that hurt more than anything else I had done.
Can you think of a time when words seared painfully into someone’s soul?
Yes, conflict can be a character builder, building up both the offended and the offender … but only if we are slow to communicate, step back before we jump forward.
Join me tomorrow for more on this huge subject of communication.

Evinda

The 7 Sacrifices to Joy! From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power…

Happy day to you and thanks so much for joining me for more of the Seven Sacrifices to Joy! Did you ever think in your wildest dreams that God would use so many principles to teach us about joy? I had no idea, seriously! And then to discover that many of these ingredients to a healthy life — joy, righteousness and communication — are actually considered sacrifices! Wow, I am humbled by all He continues to teach me despite me, encouraging me toward less of me and more of Him! Grab your coffee and let’s hope and pray we can get through the final part of this third sacrifice, the sacrifice of communication.
So far we’ve been able to come up with a few diamonds in our digging through some scriptures about communication, which actually translates to fellowship. We’ve learned much from one of the most prolific communicators in the Word of God, Paul. Come with me to discover another huge benefit of fellowship/communication and how we can best utilize it as a sacrifice in our daily walk with our Keynote Speaker.
God knew we would have difficulty in this area of communication and fellowship that brings unity, so He sent us a Helper, his Holy Spirit. He longs for us to communicate with Him; that’s without a doubt! But He doesn’t leave us without help and that humbles me, knowing He loves us enough to not let us figure this stuff out on our own. What a loving God we have!
We are told in Romans 8:26 that when we do not know what to do or what to say, the Spirit will intercede for us! This goes for anything, anytime, anyhow and anywhere! And that’s not just for His benefit, but for ours. It’s to help us stay in fellowship with Him, first and foremost, and then when we step outside of our personal relationship with Christ, and seek that fellowship with like-minded followers of Christ, we are told in 2^nd Corinthians 13:14 that we also share together a fellowship with the Holy Spirit!
The Holy Spirit is the Super Glue for unity in the church. If we relied more on His Spirit to guide us in our interactions, there would be more unity among the diversity creating harmony that is ever so pleasing to His ears.
Paul tells us in Philippians 2:1-4 that without the Helper, unity in the church would not be possible! We are to lean on the Spirit, not our own understanding, but how many of us forget this when we are wounded by someone within the church? And trust me when I say, I’m talking to myself here. We must be led by His spirit and not our flesh to maintain that unity for that is true fellowship. When we are out of unity with any member of His church, then we are out of alignment with Him, the one we are engaged to, the One we are waiting for.
Don’t misunderstand me; there are those people whom you can never please, who will never appear on your list of your top ten friends, family members, et cetera, but when you think of them, are you keeping a list of all the ways they’ve offended you? Is there a little tug on your heart when you merely think about them, a little sting of bitter seeping into the soul? We need His Spirit to reveal the answers to these questions and then be the healer of the hurt!
Oh that we would be in fellowship with the Spirit so we may be guided by the Spirit and not our flesh; that we would be a part of the solution, and not part of the problem, creating true unity in the church, protecting our relationship with our Bridegroom, the One who we are waiting for, the one we are engaged to, and hopefully with!
So I almost made it to the final part of the sacrifice of communication! Next week; I promise! Join me tomorrow for a fun new series based on the book, Not a Fan, by Kyle Idleman!
Koinonia to you, my coffee hour friend,

Evinda